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Now there are concerns a tourism boost could be too much for the island

After Air New Zealand launched a second flight last year tourism industry skyrocketed

When the results came up you may have quickly found yourself dreaming about a tropical island getaway, to a place with glittering turquoise waters and palm trees swaying in the wind.

A cynic would say the mysterious story of how a mallard duck made its way to a coral atoll in the Pacific ocean, without wetlands or ponds, is in fact a stroke of marketing brilliance.

"I think Trevor is an excellent ambassador for Niue and the reason I say that, is that he has raised the profile of people globally who may or may not have been aware of Niue's existence beforehand," Felicity Bollen, chief executive officer of Niue Tourism, told the ABCs Pacific Beat program.

"We pride ourselves on being a funny, quirky little island and he fits with the quirkiness, so he's a perfect fit from a marketing perspective for our country."

"I wish I'd had the brilliance to think of it myself but no, he literally just showed up one day and I've actually just driven past him … he looked quite happy this morning, splashing around in his puddle, surrounded by some resident roosters," Ms Bollen said.

The small Micronesian nation of Palau in the Western Pacific, which has a population of just 20,000, also recently moved to limit the number of tourists it welcomes, with similar concerns about the impact mass tourism, particularly by large Chinese group bookings, was having on the natural environment.

It also became the first country introduce a mandatory pledge for all tourists to make on arrival, to help protect and preserve the island nation.

So what does that mean for those who were ready to book their flights and pack their bags, to visit Niue and Trevor the Duck?

"Maybe what I can do is get some postcards made of Trevor and send them out to interested people. He's got his own Facebook page with regular updates," Ms Bollen said.

"We may have to do that. That's the price that we'll pay for retaining our cultural integrity and environmental integrity."